


Dame-Tsuna to Dead Last

by ZiquilaLeo



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst and Feels, Character Death Fix, Dubious Morality, Eventual Relationships, Families of Choice, Fix-It of Sorts, Flame Harmonization (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Manipulative Relationship, Ninja Sawada Tsunayoshi, Possible Character Death, Sawada Tsunayoshi as Uzumaki Naruto, Sawada Tsunayoshi is So Done, Second Chances, Suicidal Thoughts, Tags May Change, Tragedy, Unconventional Uses for Dying Will Flames, Warning: Possible Trigger Scenes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-09 12:36:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18917131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZiquilaLeo/pseuds/ZiquilaLeo
Summary: In one universe, Uzumaki Naruto, at the tender age of ten, ends up with a head injury that puts him in a coma.Far, far away in another dimension, Sawada Tsunayoshi dies of an incurable disease -Flame Corruption, of all things.Naruto leaves to the Pure World, no problem there for such an innocent soul.Tsuna, however, isn’t easily let go. Not after the heinous, immoral things he’s done.Of course, instead of being sent to the Six Realms of Hell, his saving grace comes in the form of a man who was called a god in another universe, snatching the pure soul to be given a chance at redemption by fulfilling a prophecy thatmustcome to be.





	1. Part One

Unexplainable things happen. Some would say it’s the work of fate, a person’s destiny, or a miracle from the gods. None of those statements are true in this case. The closest one could get is if their answer was ‘The Sky’.

In one universe, Uzumaki Naruto, at the tender age of ten, ends up with a head injury that puts him in a coma.

In a parallel world, the villagers are more bark than bite, the fear of drawing the wrath of their Hokage should they lay a hand on the boy.

Not in this world.

One incident leads to another. A civilian who had lost his wife and daughter from the Kyuubi Attack ten years ago spends most of his days drowning himself in alcohol, letting the burning sensation that fills the emptiness left behind after the death of his family consume him. He gets too drunk one day, enough that he’s tossed out of the bar, staggering down alleyways to his lonely apartment and left wondering what he did to deserve this. Why _him_?

It just so happened Uzumaki Naruto was walking towards him, haven’t noticing the approaching danger.

It was like the gods were answering the civilian, placing the reason for him losing his loved ones right in his path, and he gives in to the darkness he’s endured for ten painfully long years, lets his frustration loose on the unsuspecting chi— _demon_ , his mind roars.

Thus leading Uzumaki Naruto to be beaten within an inch of his life; only saved when a shinobi jumping over the roof above them recognizes the stench of blood from below.

The aftermath that follows is the execution of the civilian attacker, an immediate Council Meeting, and a comatose Jinchuriki.

However, unbeknownst to the elders who rely on the Kyuubi’s healing power to save the boy from his external and internal injuries, it’s too late, keeping the body alive when he’s already brain dead - anything they do will be futile in his revival.

Just like that, Uzumaki Naruto passed away, leaving behind a destiny unfilled, and indirectly plugging the world’s future into darkness.

*********

Far, far away in another dimension, Sawada Tsunayoshi dies of an incurable disease - _Flame Corruption_ , of all things. Considering he was known for his unwavering resolve and will to protect anything he deems precious or worth fighting for. The cause of his death had stunned many, but not him - no, he knew all along that eventually he was going to fall, crash, and burn out.

In the beginning of the first phase of his sickness, he was still at the healthy age of twenty-one. He experienced fatigue that surpassed his days when he couldn’t keep up with his Spartan Tutor’s training regime, followed by a cold that had him end up being bedridden.

There was no name for his sickness at the time. Not even the doctors he knew - which were the best, in his opinion - were able to figure out the cause of it.

Around the time he became dependent on another individual to take care him was when his friends - the smartest scientists in the world - figured out the cause.

At age twenty-four, only six years of being the Decimo of Vongola, Sawada Tsunayoshi was diagnosed with a newly discovered disease called Flame Corruption: when a person goes against their Dying Will Flames, and it in return turning on him

Tsuna’s resolve was strong, fierce, and unyielding, even to him, its owner. In all honesty, he never wanted to be a Mafia Boss, hadn’t wanted anything to deal with it. He’d imprinted that little tidbit in his resolve from the beginning, never having changed his opinion on the matter despite the good that came with it.

However, he wasn’t given a choice in the matter.

Reborn, his Spartan Tutor from Hell who’s probably the embodiment of Hades himself was his primary source of forcing him to take the mantle. No matter how much he protested in the beginning, even once vowing to destroy the Famiglia at death’s door - the decision supposedly wasn’t one he was allowed to make.

By the time someone finally asked his opinion on whether or not he wanted to lead the world’s most influential and strongest mafia group, he’d been in too deep to turn away, and his chosen Guardians didn’t seem to want to leave the life that brought them all together.

Tsuna’s Dying Will had and will always revolve around his precious people - the will to protect and defend should the need arise. His Flames were meant to embrace all he loved and cared about: people, Namimori, friends, family, the weak, his ideals. Never once has Tsuna considered them for anything else.

His fight with Byakuran in the future had cemented his Dying Will Flames to never allow any of that to happen again, to stay far away from such a cruel world that is out to get him because of something out of his control.

And when the time came for him to destroy Vongola, he was stopped. Nono. Iemitsu. Reborn. The Varia. Hell! Even _Dino_! Still, he fought for the right to do so, as the boss - _their_ boss. 

They convinced him in the end, that the downfall of Vongola would bring unbalance to the Mafia World and send it spiraling into a bloody war over which Famiglia can take over the abandoned throne.

So Tuna tried, he really did, to keep to his resolve in such a blood-torn world while fulfilling his duties as the Boss of a criminal organization.

Peace treaties, negotiations, anything to prevent the future he saw didn’t change much like he expected - _hoped_ \- it would in the underground world. Violence remained the top go-to when facing an enemy or a fight breaks out.

None of it was enough.

Tsuna had given missions to his Guardians and subordinates, half of them ending in a bloodbath and causing destruction unsavory to his tastes. He had to do it though, because it was the lesser evil than leaving the mess alone and turning a blind eye. Millifore _cannot_ happen again.

Perhaps that was when the beginning of his sickness began, when his duties clashed with his resolve, and he chose the former more times than he felt comfortable with. He’d walked a thin line between the two, slowly falling into the Mafia’s pace as time passed because there were just some things that couldn’t be sorted out civilly.

His decisions were his own. The missions for assassinations, imprisoning the enemies and torturing them - he approved of it all.

At the same he didn’t, but it was what _needed_ to be done.

He hated it. He hated himself. His Flames, once pure and strong, hated him - it was the only reason that could explain why they’d turn on him of its own free will. But, he didn’t blame it, only himself, because he went against his Flames first, by betraying them - his ideals - his _resolve_.

His resolve was to protect his precious people and everything he cared about, even from him if he was ever the danger to them, _especially_ from him. 

There were many times his Guardians came back from life-threatening missions badly injured, and sometimes even dying.

He was supposed to be _protecting_ them, not sending them to an early death. They hadn’t mind, of course, but that isn’t the point.

Another thing Tsuna didn’t want happening was becoming like his future self, the one that would endanger his friends to motivate himself to defeat an enemy out to kill him and everyone he cares about.

Yet he had. At least was beginning to.

He’d crossed the line he set for himself that fateful day in the future, and this was his punishment.

Those who had steered his direction to be the Vongola Don blamed themselves for his sickness, apparently under the assumption he would either change the mafia world for the better, or change himself, but no.

Both were correct and wrong at the same time.

He changed things, yes, but hadn’t fixed anything - from wanting to change the Mafia world for the better to securing Vongola’s status quo.

He changed, yes, but also didn’t - not entirely, his hands were just as stained as the subordinates he sent to end a life.

Sure he has everything now, had gain them all because of the Mafia, but he’s scared the Mafia will take them away from him all the same.

It’s frightening, _he’s_ frightening - he has to be in order to keep it all - _protect_ them all.

He’s the same Dame-Tsuna who never wanted to be in the Mafia.

He’s just no longer that person who vowed with his Dying Will Flames to protect what he wanted, nothing more - nothing less.

Over time his Flames slowly rebelled against him, draining his body and destroying his will to be someone he never wanted to be, leaving behind a hollow shell of what he once was and so, so very weary.

He was just _so_ tired of it all.

Eventually, he let his Flames consume him, after years of being cold he finally feels the warmth - hot sparks - that burn his being in one last moment to shine.

A Sky destroyed by his own Flames and those under its vastness - corrupted from their expectations and selfishness - darkens, and leaves behind an unforgiving void.

*********

Two souls wait at death’s door.

One innocent who experienced nothing but solitude and misfortune.

One pure who has done horrible deeds for the greater good.

Being from different dimensions, the two would have never met - _connected_ in some way during their time in the living.

With the exception of death, of course.

They’re both dead. Naruto’s body forcibly kept alive in the land of the living, but his brain dead with a soul no longer occupying his human container. Tsuna killed by the weapons he wielded to protect, nothing more than a pile of ashes.

Naruto leaves to the Pure World, no problem there for such an innocent soul.

Tsuna, however, isn’t easily let go. Not after the heinous, immoral deeds he’s committed.

Of course, instead of being sent to the Six Realms of Hell, his saving grace comes in the form of a man who was called a god in another universe, snatching the pure soul to be given a second chance at redemption by fulfilling a prophecy that _must_ come to be.

No warning is given to the pure soul, and like in his previous life, Tsuna will once again follow down the path paved in stone by others instead of his own making - something out of his control.

Or so the Sage of Six Paths hopes.

*****

First he feels warmth. It envelops him, sending the calming feeling through his body at a comfortably sluggish pace.

Then, pain.

Parts of his body stings, aching in a way that reminds him of his days when he was weak, No-Good and a Dame - always hurting himself in the most pathetic ways possible.

His head in particular, rings like a gong. It hurts, tearing his mind apart, and _burning,feeling,hating,flames,protect,death,relief,hurting_.

Tsuna eyes flutter open, flinching at the bright lighting and whiteness of the room. There’s something he senses, his mind still ringing, reeling from something he doesn’t know yet.

He glances around, taking in the bare room and wondering when Reborn or his Guardians decided to move his resting location. He’d been cooped up in the safety of Vongola Mansion for almost three years, so assuming he’s been transferred sometime after a terrifying episode is the most logical reason he can sum up.

He groans, using all of his strength to lift a hand to clutch his throbbing head.

The hospital door opens on cue, it’s the only sound loud enough he could hear through the ringing, but he still senses the presence that enters the room. That’s when he notices there’s more than one pair of eyes on him, even before the door opened the eyes were there.

_What’s going on? Where am I?_

He feels completely lost as he peeks up through his eyelashes to stare at the woman who straightens his body to do something to him. He doesn’t know her face, has never seen her in Vongola. He chances a glance at the other occupants in the room, becoming more baffled each second when he doesn’t see his friends, but an old man who reminds him of Nono in white robes and Spanner dressed weirdly with long hair in a ponytail. 

A cup of water is offered, the young woman who must be a nurse dressed oddly, allowing him to sip a couple of times. It’s when he’s finished consuming the water he realizes he had drunk an unknown substance. Sure, it reminded him of water, but there are tasteless and scentless poisons in the world.

Then, out of nowhere, he feels a prick in his arm, flinching hard and earning himself a hard throb that hits him in his temples, he groans pitifully, his tears prickling the corner of his eyes from the pain.

_What the hell?!_

“The sedative should ease the pain in a minute,” the young woman’s voice booms. “I’ve given him enough to knock out two platoons Hokage-sama.”

Tsuna grits his teeth, clenching his fist into the fabric covering him. Slowly, the pain fades, a familiar cold numbness taking over him. His breathing follows next, but doesn’t relax his grip. He still doesn’t understand his current situation, nor know the people who have him.

His Flames are still too small to be of use, flickering dangerously like a lit candle caught in the middle of a storm.

The Spanner-look-alike moves closer until he’s in Tsuna’s field of vision. “Hello Uzumaki-san. I’m Yamanaka Inoichi, and I’d like to ask you a few questions. I know you’re in pain, and still recovering, so take all the time you need to answer.”

Tsuna stares blankly at him. Is this man serious? There’s no one in the underground world who doesn’t know his face. His Hyper Intuition is lost to the ringing in his head, the sensation faint and nothing but gibberish to him.

“Do you remember what happened that landed you in the hospital?”

It’s a simple question, but it does nothing to elevate the Decimo’s anxiety. Even when he became sick, he never visited the hospital, Vongola had doctors to spare who were Sun Flame Users. So no, he doesn’t remember what landed him in the hospital.

He shakes his head to answer, after a debate of whether or not he should play along.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

The image of his Flames exploding forth and burning his skin and life-force flashes in his mind; bringing with it the phantom pains of his latest episode. His body jerks, curling into himself in a protective ball. Bile rises in his throat, remembering how none of Reborn’s tortures or the horrible things he’s been through come close to being burned alive by _his Flames_.

The stench of burnt meat filling his nose, electricity coursing through his veins, copper flooding his mouth, ashes piling beneath him - all of it him, he remembers, likely never to forget.

A wrinkled hand gently touches his cheek, rubbing it in a soothing manner. “I hope you forgive me for letting this happen my dear boy.”

Tsuna blinks the tears away, panic overriding his shock at how close he let the unknown individuals come closer to him. He tries to remain calm on the outside, however; unfortunately, he reflexively flinches from the appendage and stares at the man in wariness with a little suspicion.

“Who are you?”

The old man blinks rapidly for a moment, surprise melting into his grandfatherly expression. “You don’t remember me?” There’s genuine shock in the old man’s voice, but Tsuna is having none of it. This old man reminds him of Nono, the grandfatherly aura covering the two like a second layer of skin, easily fooling enemies and sometimes even letting allies falter and wonder if the man really was the Don of the deadliest Famiglia with the most blood-stained history of the Mafia.

Tsuna shakes his head. “I’ve never seen you before,” he rasps, telling the truth. Reborn said it was the best way to fooling opponents when used at the right time. “Where am I?”

Spanner-look-alike frowns, eyebrows furrowing in what could either be concern or thoughtfulness. “Uzumaki-san, do you remember your name?”

Tsuna stares at him, confusion furrowing his brow. “Uzumaki-san is my name?” They can’t seriously not know him.

The two older males share a glance, the unspoken conversation meaning nothing to the Decimo.

The old man turns towards him, a somber aura emitting from him when he meets Tsuna’s eyes. “Your name is Uzumaki Naruto, a ten year old orphan of Konohagakure attending the Academy to become shinobi for the village. You were involved with an assault on your life that left you in a coma for six months. I’m the leader of the village, the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.”

There are so many things wrong from that introduction. He’s Sawada Tsunayoshi, Vongola Decimo despite his crippled state. Not some ten year old brat - he’s twenty-four! And what’s this Konohagakure and shinobi bullshit?  
Someone must be pranking him. Mukuro. It has to be him.

Except…he can feel his Hyper Intuition becoming clearer as the throbbing in his head dies down, nudging his mind in confirmation that what the men in front of him are saying are true.

Which can’t be because he’s of Vongola descent; and Uzumaki sounds nothing like Sawada.

Is Sawada Tsunayoshi a made up identity conjured from a dream then? Convincing enough from being in a coma and dreaming for so long of a fake life? Why? He can feel his Hyper Intuition and it was the inherent ability Sawada Tsunayoshi possessed, so his identity has to be real. He was a Dame turned Mafia Don, and had many responsibilities and standards to uphold. The sensation of his last episode is still fresh in his mind too.

He brings his hands to hold over his face, ignoring the IV attached to his left arm and stares incredulously at the small appendages - not the bigger, slim hands he remembers having at age twenty-four, proof that the old man was telling some truth, perhaps.

But! But! But! But!

What’s this? Why does he remember an entirely different life that feels so real? He can feel his Flames, sense his Hyper Intuition, and has knowledge far from being understandable at the meekly age of ten. 

“Naruto?”

Tsuna startles at the sharp tone, cradling his hands to his chest to stare up at the old man before him.

 _Something isn’t right_ , he thinks. His Hyper Intuition doesn’t agree, but doesn’t disagree either. It’s always right, but doesn’t mean there are times he’d understand it. No, the damn superpower can be tricky when it comes to truth and lies, which all depends how much those in question strongly feels towards their belief and faith. He _knows_ he’s Sawada Tsunayoshi, Dame-Tsuna, a civilian boy who was forcibly thrust onto a path of hardships and suffering.

“I- I don’t remember… I don’t - my name is Uzumaki Naruto? I-I- I don’t know anything!” He cries out hysterically, allowing the waterworks to come free. “Why can’t I remember?”

Why does he remember another life and not the one he lives in reality?

The wrinkled hand returns, gently running through his hair. “It’s okay,” the Sandaime Hokage’s voice says softly. “You don’t have to figure this out by yourself, Naruto. It’s okay to be scared.”

And scared he is.

This time when he gives in to the darkness, there’s no fire, just a cold numbness that reminds him of a vast emptiness.

…

The next time Tsuna wakes up, he’s alone. His body feels marginally better than it did when he last woke up, the pain subsiding to nothing more than aches if he puts pressure on certain spots or moves his head too much.

Until he figures out what’s happening to him, he’ll go along with being Uzumaki Naruto, maybe find something that can trigger at least a few bits and pieces of who he was, but he’s still going to believe he’s Sawada Tsunayoshi till proven otherwise.

But, doing that comes with some consequences he’s forced to suffer. Like loneliness. Aside from that Spannar-look-alike and the Sandaime Hokage, nobody has come to visit him. He was told he was an orphan, but he’d had thought the matron or person in charge of him would come visit, but no one has. Nada.

There’s no window in his room, only that one door that leads out to a world where shinobi exist. So he can’t even tell the time of day, or the kind of village he lives in.

After about two more times of waking up to no one, the next is when the Sandaime Hokage visits, alone this time.

The old man smiles, the image of Nono from Sawada Tsunayoshi’s life overlapping for a heart-wrenching second. “Good Afternoon Naruto. Are you feeling better?”

“A little,” he admits sulkily. It’s best to act as close to his physical age as possible. It isn’t hard given his situation being diagnosed with amnesia.

“You must have been bored, staying cooped up in this room for days. I’m sorry I couldn’t come, I had paperwork to take care of, but today I bring good news. You’re being discharged from the hospital. You don’t have to return to school right away if you’re not ready. Today I’ll be showing you around, hopefully jog your memory. What do you say?”

Tsuna nods, hesitantly sliding of the hospital bed to stand next to the old man, keeping an obvious distance from him. He’d had time to walk around during the times he grew bored, so he’s fine. Obediently he follows the Sandaime Hokage, eyeing the white corridors and hospital staff they pass in those weirdly styled garbs.

Once they’re outside, his eyes latch onto the different environment. A peaceful village, then. The birds are chirping, the sun hung high in the middle of the sky, and the wind feels fresh, different than the polluted air and racket caused by factories and machines and his men.

That’s why it's easy for him to notice the figure hopping from roof to roof and lands in front of them, only to run up the hospital building, defying the laws of gravity, and climb through a window.

He’s seen weirder shit in life, time-traveling and the Tri-Nii-Sette being at the top of his list. But that? Walking up a wall like walking on the ground?

_What. The. Fuck._

An amused chuckle draws his attention, the Sandaime Hokage’s eyes crinkling with mirth. “Shinobi,” he says.

“I don’t understand.” He states, unable to keep the awe out of his voice. “How?” It's like one of the manga books he read when he was middle school.

“Don’t worry, they’ll teach you that in the Academy. Come, there’s more to see.” The old man lays a gentle hand on his shoulder and steers him in a certain direction.

He’s taken to the place called the Academy, shown to a room occupied by his current class but leaves them undisturbed and heads to other important places to remember.

It’s throughout his walk with the Sandaime Hokage in the shopping district that he notices the weird behavior of the other people. They look at the old man with respect, awe, and a little fear, but when they look at him, Tsuna tries not to falter in his steps.

The civilians - the Sandaime Hokage calls those who aren’t shinobi - stare at him in contempt, their eyes cold and full of hatred, reminding him of Mukuro and his hatred for Estraneo. Majority of them are subtle about it, maybe because the leader of the village is with him, but there’s a few who actually bare their teeth at him, eyes narrowing in warning when he passes by.

“Why do they stare at me like that?” Tsuna asks once they break off from the main road to one less crowded and not subjected to such animosity.

The Sandaime Hokage doesn’t falter in his steps, but he does wince, barely noticeable, blind to any ten year old that didn’t have a mentality of a twenty-four year old Mafia Don. “Ah! Look, there’s your apartment building, Naruto!”

Tsuna eyes narrow at the misdirection but he doesn’t argue further on the subject. He chances a glance to his building and grimaces. _That old thing is where I live?_ And the neighborhood he lives in reminds him of the slums despite its appearance at trying to being modest.

The inside of his apartment is worse. It’s clean and all, but the ceiling and walls are littered with cracks, the few furniture he probably own looks like chipped objects that belong in the dump. 

“I had some shinobi clean up the place when you woke up. The cabinets and refrigerator are stocked so you don’t have to worry about shopping for a while. Since you’ve lost your memories of everything but common speech and sense, I had a few books placed in your bedroom for you to read to catch up to date of our world. You should see one, tell me if you need help with reading it.”

Tsuna warily moves to what he assumes is his bedroom when he’s nudged gently to comply, quickly mapping out his small apartment. He grabs one of the small booklets atop the shelf beside his bed, opening it to see an old-styled Japanese Kanji. There’s some he doesn’t know, but if he reads the one he does, he can figure out what the sentence is saying in general.

He makes his way back to the Sandaime Hokage who is sitting on one of the chairs in the kitchen, patiently watching him.

“I understand a little,” he replies, earning a relieved smile from the old man.

“That’s good to hear. Has anything seemed familiar to you today?”

Tsuna thinks back on his little field-trip, mentally editing out the villagers’ dislike towards him. Now that he thinks about it, there was one thing. “The mountain with faces on them… You said it’s called the Hokage Monument? It…feels familiar.” He remembers another monument of faces from Sawada Tsunayoshi’s memories; they were the faces of former presidents of the United States.

The old man smiles, a mixture of emotions flickering in his eyes; his expression means little to Tsuna who doesn’t know the history of the stories behind them. “You looked up to them, the Fourth especially. You always shouted at the top of your lungs you would be Hokage one day and have your face up there with ours. You were a very energetic child, Naruto, never letting anything keep you down too long.”

“Aah…I see,” Tsuna says awkwardly, unsure what to say to that. He doesn’t want to be Hokage, not when all he knows about it is being the strongest person in the village. And if the old man had been cooped up for two days doing paperwork despite being Tsuna’s legal Guardian and unable to visit him in the hospital - yeah, he’s already had a fair share of the accursed paperwork. Dreams or no dreams, he doesn’t want to suffer through that kind of torture.

The Sandaime Hokage must have noticed he’s uncomfortable because he chuckles, wrapping up his visit and seeming ready to leave despite just arriving to the apartment. “Is there anything you think you may need before I go? There’s still more paperwork I’ve yet to finish.”

Tsuna glances around his small apartment. He shakes his head.

“You have two weeks to yourself if you aren’t ready to return to the Academy. If you need anything, the large building at the bottom of the Hokage Monument is the Hokage Tower, the one I showed you, just ask for me at the front door okay? Goodbye Naruto, and take good care of yourself now.”

Tsuna watches the old man leave, hearing the front door close in front of him with a finality that freezes him in place.

He’s ten years old living by himself and expected to take care of himself.

Why isn’t he in the orphanage?

His apartment feels even smaller with the loss of a companion to keep the loneliness away, reminding him of his days being cooped up in the master suite of Vongola because of his sickness. His room there had been too huge for someone of only sixty-five inches in height, while this room is only a quarter-size of his walk-in-closet at Vongola.

The biggest difference bothering him however…

“It’s so quiet.”

In Vongola, his Guardians could try as they might, but their boisterous behaviors and personalities that clashes with each other usually had them ending up in some kind of fight, whether it be shouting or done with weapons, most of the time being both - he could hear all of it when his window was open, allowing the liveliness he couldn’t partake in anymore to filter in and remind him he wasn’t alone, even if he ached to be there with them.

This pathetic of an excuse apartment has thin walls and enough chips and cracks to hear the outside world, but... Silence is what meets his ears.

Faintly he can feel other presences nearby, had felt them since the first time he woke up. He’d been followed and watched, and assumed it was for the protection of being assaulted that landed him in hospital, but as he’s left more time alone to his thoughts after his little trip with the Sandaime Hokage around the village, he has a sinking feeling there’s more he hasn’t been told. 

He only let it go now because his stalkers hadn’t entered his apartment.

Shaking off the loneliness and depression forming, Tsuna heads back to his bedroom to read through the books given to him.

Although he’s able to read most of the writing inside them, he’s left baffled by such a Fairytale history of the village he lives in, of wars fought between shinobi, of a monster called the Kyuubi. Tsuna wants to cry in despair because this place he woke up to is more like a dream than one where people can wield their life-force in the form of Dying Will Flames. Nothing makes sense.

_Chakra? Really?_

He learns of the clans in the village. That Spannar-look-alike was supposedly from the Yamanaka Clan, which specializes in techniques—jutsus—of the mind. The Sandaime Hokage is apparently from the Sarutobi Clan.

The bloody history and mention of children becoming shinobi does little to encourage him to take the path of becoming one. It’s the Mafia all over again, only worse.

The massacre of one Uchiha Clan, a founding Clan of the village, their downfall committed by its original heir who went insane sounds awfully like Xanxus and his coup, but this Uchiha Itachi somehow succeeding in the end. _Could there be more behind the story? This is a shinobi village._

There’s hardly any information on the other countries and Hidden Villages, just who is and isn’t an ally of Konohagakure, and that they’re not at war. An explanation of the general hierarchy is also inside one of the books. There’s Clan Head, Kage, Daimyo, and shinobi: Genin, Chuunin, Special Jounin, Jounin, and Anbu.

Konohagakure’s system seems flawed, however. He was able to figure out the loopholes in the rule book full of laws and regulations for shinobi and civilians alike, becoming more displeased when his Hyper Intuition nudges him as some kind of warning for them, sometimes even from them.

All in all, he’s left with more questions than answers.

He doesn’t go to the Academy the next day, not for the rest of the week. He’s too busy picking apart the books given to him, wondering if it’s Primo and Vongola all over again because all he has is comparing what he remembers and supposedly can’t.

Tsuna theorizes and wonders, never once voicing his mind aloud in case he’s being spied on. Sure, the village wasn’t as advanced as he likes, but there are telephone poles and electricity here, so he wouldn’t put it pass shinobi to bug a ten-year-old’s little abode.

There was a book on financial handling with a large envelope of his accumulated orphanage stipend during the time he was hospitalized. Apparently the Sandaime Hokage had personally paid for his hospital bill and left his money for himself.

Tsuna doesn’t know how much Ryo is equivalent to Yen, but he seems to have a lot of the money used in this world, going by the examples in the booklet.

He also had been scoping out his apartment for proof if anyone is spying on him, and as a result, found a frog purse and saved up money in the floorboards when he was looking for any hidden passages or bugs.

There are no pictures of him growing up, or parents he could compare his appearance with.

When he woke up the second day at the hospital to use the restroom, he had nearly screamed in horror at the bright blonde color of his hair and blue eyes. He thought he’d been staring at a mixture of Primo and his father, but upon further inspection, he could see the differences. The whisker-like markings on his face was a big eye-opener.

At least he looked a little…cute.

Still, he didn’t let that get to him. There were some orphans who never got to know anything about their biological parents their entire lives. He’s fine with that - his memories of Sawada Nana is enough for him.

Tsuna attempted to access his Flames an entire day, but every time he called for them they didn’t answer. He can’t tell if they deny him because of his betrayal, or because he’s scared they’ll turn on him and isn’t really trying. So he’s holding that off until he figures out what the hell is going on.

At the end of the week, the only thing really bothering him are the hideous orange jumpsuits in his closet. There’s a few set of white shirts with a unique spiral printed on the front and some dark blue shorts, but they’re all too small, which leaves the hideous orange jumpsuits, like the one he’s wearing at the moment.

Was orange his favorite color? He doesn’t necessarily hate the color, and had instead taken to it when it became his color theme as the Sky Guardian of Vongola, but this…this is _too_ much.

Yeah, he isn’t going to wear that.

He leaves his apartment on the last day of the week to go shopping for new clothes and a sewing kit. He’s already regretting leaving the safe confines of his home when he walks alone through the busy streets of the shopping districts, having forgotten one tiny little detail.

People who were most likely civilians glared at him, but not doing anything to him.

Those dressed in a vest or wearing a headband with the Konoha insignia engraved on it only spare him a glance before completely ignoring him. But, he feels it, the hair on his body standing in alarm because he feels everyone’s attention on him - the negative kind.

His first shop of choice was one with barely any customers, except he’s ignored by the cashier. His insistence only seems to aggravate the workers and customers, so he leaves to another only to face the same treatment.

He doesn’t give up however, and goes to one of the busier ones, stubbornly waiting in line until he’s served. It works, but he’s over-charged and ushered out by everyone inside.

During the walk home he wonders about the cold glares and the dislike the villagers have towards him. He still hasn’t been told more information about the assault that ended him up in the hospital, if the reason he was attacked was because of something random, or because he had given the villagers a reason to hate him before then. 

He has a feeling even if he asked the Hokage the reason why, he wouldn’t get the complete truth.

Luckily, once he gets home he becomes occupied with his new set of clothes. They’re the exact same set of white shirt with that unique spiral and dark blue shinobi pants similar to the shorts in his closet, but ones that fits him perfectly. It was the cheapest in the store, and although he could have gotten fancier clothes, he’d rather not spend a lot of money in case of an emergency, and he hadn’t wanted to be additionally charged because someone was being a jerk. 

He puts his new clothes away, taking out the ones too small for him and places it next to the sewing kit he bought and begins cutting up the clothes and sewing himself a new jacket.

Six white shirts make up the body of his jacket, he had cut them up to be able to adjust it into a bastardized version of his cloak with sleeves made from the dark blue pieces cut from his shorts. He even added a hood for his head with the excess dark blue cloths so he’d be able to cover his eye-catching hair color.

The unique spirals were sown on the arms of his sleeves, one for each arm, and one in the middle of his back. The rest were stored away until further notice.

He holds up his handiwork and smiles to himself, pleased with his masterpiece. Trying it on, he discovers that the cloak goes a little ways passed his knees and is slightly loose.

“I like it.” He’s really thankful his mom - Sawada Nana from Sawada Tunayoshi’s memories - had taught him such a useful skill. It was something the two of the bonded over the times before he left to Italy to become Vongola Decimo.

Tsuna is now ready to go to the Academy.

He has a spare notebook to take down personal notes of this odd world he lives in, everything written in his Storm Guardian’s original code since he doesn’t know if he’s really Uzumaki Naruto or Sawada Tsunayoshi.

There’s only three more months before he supposedly finishes the Academy. He’ll decide then whether or not if he wants to be a shinobi. He doesn’t want to carry out assassinations or be forced to do things in certain situations that go against his morals, not again. But, he also doesn’t want to be left defenseless in a village full of people who hate him and enemies beyond the village walls.

Tomorrow scares him, but he’ll toughen it out, because even if there is a possibility of Reborn being his imagination, he still believes that Spartan Tutor of his would come to this world and beat him up for being a coward.

That night he dreams of friends and family, being surrounded by vibrant people who brought color back to his dead world. How he gained something so precious he’d do anything to protect them, even at the cost of his life.

He cries himself to sleep, feeling an emptiness that used to be occupied in his reach and filled him with meaning, of memories of Flames that he bonded with but never had the chance to Harmonize with because of his sickness. In place of those once warm Flames’ spot lays a void that’s eating him up from the inside, cold and unforgiving. His yearning burning like he once did.

A large part of him wishes he never woke up, even if he was suffering towards the end of that too-real-to-be-a-dream dream. At least there, he didn’t feel lonely and so lost.

Tsuna doesn’t want to be Uzumaki Naruto.


	2. Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsuna's first day (back?) at the Academy.

Tsuna has absolutely no idea how the Academy - a school meant for raising ninja - works, nor what is required from the student. So he hopes he doesn’t get in trouble that he’s only going to bring a small notebook and pencil to school. The Hokage hadn’t told him anything aside from where and when the Academy starts.

Understandably, with his nerves an all time high, he wakes an hour before his alarm clock, giving him enough time to have a light breakfast consisting of fried eggs and toast.

He’d been restless, staying cooped up in his apartment doing nothing but homework on the village’s system. Now that he’s finally going to leave his place for long periods of time in this alien world, the storm in his stomach rages to levels none of his twenty-four yeas of experiences and maturity could calm down.

The week he had to himself he had done workout routines from his time as Sawada Tsunayoshi to get rid of the pent up energy he seems to have an endless supply of. It hardly helped that his anxiety only continues to add to his growing relentlessness, causing him to feel like he’s going to explode sooner or later.

Shaking his body and head from those thoughts, he takes a quick shower to calm him down. He puts on his new set of clothes, smiling to himself at how he’s now less of an eyesore. With a flick of his wrists, he puts on his hood before leaving his apartment, notebook and pencil secured inside one of pockets.

This time during his outing, hardly anyone stares him. When one does, he ducks his head and hides his face from view. As much as the gesture is cowardly, it allows him to leisurely walk through the crowded street. He has a better chance to study his surrounding some more without having to worry about the cold eyes of the villagers and doing something un-Naruto-like in the presence of people who might notice something off about him.

His mind wonders to how little advance the village is. Despite Chakra being well-known in the world, it hasn’t really been used to further advance in ways that benefit humans as a whole. Sure Chakra can be used as weapons for shinobi, but even with his limited knowledge of it, he can already imagine how to use it on a daily basis to better the world.

Though, he also knows Chakra can be used for terrible deeds since there are bad people somewhere in the world wanting nothing more than to wreck havoc.

Still, what he concludes is surprising and largely disappointing.

He slows in his pace when he arrives to the Academy, and can’t help eyeing the abandon swing hanging from a sturdy branch of the lone tree in front of the building. He hadn’t noticed it when he was with the Hokage, but this time he does. He makes his way to it, his fingers running along the ropes in a way that feels familiar.

There’s a tug in his chest as he sits on the plank of wood, lightly pushing his feet off the ground to get him swinging.

A gust of wind breezes by, whisking away fallen leaves in the empty courtyard and making him shudder. His fingers tightens around the thick threads as he’s suddenly assaulted by a heavy dose of loneliness, sending his mind into a frenzy of what he’s going to have to live through again.

 _Will school be like it was as Dame-Tsuna?_ Will he be a loner and No-Good at anything he does? _Or will it be even worse this time around?_

Tsuna can’t help but think like that, hating the way that all of them are highly possible with his unwanted presence shared among most of the villagers.

Aside from the Sandaime Hokage, there’s no one who seems to care about him. And he’s still questioning the old man’s hidden motives of why he does. He knows things, has seen and been through many experiences enough to know by now that Uzumaki Naruto probably isn’t a normal orphan.

It’s so obvious, he could laugh. The Sandaime Hokage is the leader of the village, and supposedly the only Guardian over an orphan that doesn’t live within the Sarutobi Compound, the orphan who also happens to be shunned and scorned by most of the people in the village with barely concealed hostility directed towards him.

He doesn’t need to be a genius to figure out there’s a huge secret about him he isn’t privy to.

He knows he’s right to assume so when the Hokage didn’t answer his question as to why the villagers hate him, also indirectly solidifying Tsuna’s belief that he can’t trust anyone in Konohagakure.

Tsuna has read many light novels and manga about shinobi, so he knows there’s always more happening in the shadows. His experience in the Mafia cements his thoughts on the matter.

Unfortunately, not trusting anyone means Tsuna is alone.

As Sawada Tsunayoshi, despite being a loner and outcast among his peers and townspeople while growing up, he had Sawada Nana, and though she wasn’t the most attentive mother in the world, she was there and loved him wholeheartedly.

Uzumaki Naruto is not only a loner and outcast, but an orphan hated by most of the villagers in his village.

Even if he’s currently Uzumaki Naruto, Tsuna isn’t going to deny he was Sawada Tsunayoshi. He’ll concede that they’re both him, nothing less; which, consequently forces him to feel the full weight of both lives.

Sawada Tsunayoshi probably died from his last episode, and Tsuna is _not_ okay with that. He had family and friends, people who cared about him, and he had gone and died on them when they needed him to show them a way to a better future. It doesn’t help that he remembers the pain and suffering before that incident, can vividly recall the loneliness and hopelessness that clung to him while he was shackled to his bed, his regrets and guilt stinging him for years until he was burnt to ashes by his own Flames

The feelings are still fresh for him, having follow after him to this life.

To his dismay, this life isn’t any better, either. Uzumaki Naruto has nothing but an apartment and the shadow of the leader to hide behind from the villagers. He’s alone in a world that completely defies the laws of Sawada Tsunayoshi’s world.

He’s never felt more alone in both entire lives combined than in this moment sitting on the swing.

He doesn’t know why he does, why his mind chooses to reminisce all of the negatives he’s experienced in both lives in this moment. It just does, and he’s twenty-four years old and he’s about to cry, and, and-

“Naruto?”

Tsuna startles at the voice, whipping his head around to blink at a pair of boys and an adult who looks to be a relative of one of them.

He hadn’t heard or sensed anyone coming, lost to his thoughts and feelings of loneliness.

He instinctively senses for the presence of everyone around him. He senses the people who follow him every time he leaves his apartment hiding in places he can’t see them despite knowing exactly where they are, and also the small group in front of him. 

“It really is you,” the voice that had spoken up was from a boy with raven spiky hair tied into a ponytail, slightly tanned-skin - a child-like version of the man right behind the two other boys.

The other boy is chubby, light-skinned, with some kind of birthmark swirls marring his cheeks.

The boys are dressed in what must be norma; wear for kids, while the adult is dressed weirdly in those tight-fitted clothes. The adult must be a shinobi.

“I’m sorry. Do I know you?”

Both boys blink in surprise, the adult frowning instead.

“We’re in your class,” the chubby boy says slowly. “We heard you were in an accident but weren’t told what happened, just that you couldn’t come to class. You… You really don’t remember us?”

Tsuna studies the two boys more closely, inwardly cursing about how little information there is about his accident. His mind suddenly reminds him that he’s seen these two boys in his class when the Hokage was showing him around the Academy.

_Oh._

“I have amnesia,” Tsuna replies, unsure if he’s lying or not because he really doesn’t remember being Uzumaki Naruto from up until he woke up. “So I don’t really remember anyone from when I woke up in the hospital a week ago.”

The boy who first spoke narrows his eyes and forms a matching frown on his face to who could only be father. “You’ve been in the hospital all this time? Unconscious?”

“...Yeah.” He answers hesitantly. “So I’m sorry. I don’t know your names.”

“I thought you were at home being taken cared of,” the chubby boy mutters sadly before offering a kind smile. “I’m Akimichi Chouji. This is my best friend, Nara Shikamaru, and his dad, Nara Shikaku.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Uzumaki Naruto…but you already know that.”

“Nice to meet you to, kid. I have to go,” Nara Shikaku sighs out and turns to leave. “You should all head inside. Make sure you two help him settle in.”

“School is so troublesome,” he hears the Nara boy mutter, leading the way into the building. “Let’s go in so we can choose our own seats.”

Tsuna follows after the pair in silence, taking his hood off out of habit while in a building, and glances around at the mixture of traditional and modern touches of the interior. He’s still baffled at how Japanese and non-Japanese it is.

“Nara-san, Akimichi-san, is it alright if I sit next to you guys? I don’t…” He trails off in embarrassment, inwardly cursing himself for not knowing anything of this world, unsure of how Naruto is supposed to act. So far he’s been acting like Dame-Tsuna, yet no one has said a word, perhaps because he hasn’t really shown them much but a lost boy, which is technically true, but still. He doesn’t want to find out what shinobi would do to him if they thought him an impostor impersonating Uzumaki Naruto.

There were many times Mukuro would have gotten away with his disguises had it not been for Tsuna’s Hyper Intuition.

“As long as you don’t bother me during my nap, or annoy us, I don’t really care. And don’t call us by our last names, first names are fine.” Shikamaru yawns into his hand, sliding a shoji door open and making his way to the middle isle of seats, up to the third row of chairs and table for three, and taking the middle seat. Choji takes the right, and Tsuna quietly takes the last vacant one.

Not even seconds later students filter in, eyes immediately landing on him, and begin whispering to each other while pointing to his direction. He ignores them, experience of being Dame-Tsuna coming in handy.

“Oh-oh! If it isn’t Naruto! You’re back! I thought you finally quit after failing the Graduation Exam already! I didn’t notice you until I saw your whiskers and hair.” A boisterous boy with canine characteristics makes his way towards him, a tiny white dog sitting on his head.

 _Inuzuka._ He read about them in the books the Hokage gave him...and he was right to think the animal characteristics were similar to Ken's.

_Wait..._

“I failed the Graduation Exam already?” Tsuna asks incredulously. Just how Dame can he be? When had he taken the exam anyways?

The dog boy sends him a scrutinizing look. “Duh. Everyone in the Academy knows about it, Dead Last.”

Oh great. He’s not Dame-Tsuna in this world, but Dead Last. He doesn’t know which he prefers.

“Huh?”

“Leave him alone Kiba,” Shikamaru speaks up from his folded arms where his head is buried. “The accident Naruto was involved in caused him to lose his memories. He doesn’t remember any of us or his past.”

Silence descends upon the room as Tsuna shifts uncomfortably from the eyes that bore into him. It’s quiet enough that the door opening and closing echoes through the classroom, attention easily switching to the person who just arrived.

It’s a boy with raven hair, bangs framing a pale face with the strands in the back defying gravity. He looks like a miniature Kyouya, and Tsuna feels the pang of loss at the resemblance.

The boy glances at everyone in the room, eyes stopping on Tsuna and then frowning before walking towards the other end of the class to occupy a seat by the window.

He doesn’t know if he should be insulted at the clear dismissal or relieved.

“Kyaaa!”

Tsuna covers his ears from the multiple screeches that rip from the throats of most of the females in the classroom, the mob of what could only be fangirls quickly flaunting over the new comer.

He mentally gapes at the sight, and outwardly grimaces.

“Sasuke-kun! Good Morning!” A girl with pink hair coos, fluttering her eyes creepily.

A girl who reminds him of a mini Yamanaka Inoichi shoves the pinkette away and grins at the other boy. “Hello, Sasuke-kun! I’m so happy to see you today!”

Then, what could only be a cat-fight breaks out.

“Does this happen often?” Tsuna whispers in horror to the Nara, wincing when a girl gets a particularly nasty scratch to the face. _Isn’t this a school for shinobi?_

Shikamaru groans. “Every time they see him.”

Tsuna sends a sympathetic glance to the one they call Sasuke-kun.

“Tch. He’s just a bastard. I don’t know what they see in him.” Kiba scoffs for emphasize. “Anyways, I’m more interested in you losing your memories Naruto. What _do_ you remember?”

Across the room he sees Sasuke and a few others perk up at the question, turning their direction in interests.

“Um…I don’t know… I was briefed on what to expect in Konohagakure and a little history, but other than that…I just don’t know.”

“So you don’t remember me? I’m Inuzuka Kiba, just call me Kiba, and this is my partner Akamaru! We’re going to be the best shinobi team ever!”

“Uh…nice to meet you.”

“Oh-oh! You really must have forgotten your memories if you’re saying that!” Kiba laughs. Loudly.

He can’t help but compare Kiba to Lambo.

“Okay Class! Quiet down now!”

The students standing and fighting scramble away from each other, quickly making haste for their seats, the chatter dying down in the presence of who could only be their teacher taking center stage of the classroom. His eyes find Tsuna immediately, jaw slightly dropping in shock.

“Naruto...! You came today! I heard from the Hokage, but… I thought you’d take a little over two weeks of recovery before returning,” the young man tries for a smile, though it comes off slightly forced. “I’m glad you’re back. I’m Irukia-sensei. If you have any questions on what you don’t understand or know, just ask me, okay?”

Tsuna nods, disappointment settling in him that even his teacher doesn’t like him. At least the man seems to be trying.

“Alright. Today…”

And Tsuna listens attentively to the lecture, fearing Reborn would appear out of nowhere and blow him up if he slacks off, and because he's curious. He writes down details that stand out to him, things not mentioned in the booklets given to him by the Hokage into his little notebook that catches his Hyper Intuition’s attention.

After class is over, Tsuna watches from his seat as the crowd of children disperse, creating a commotion in their rush to meet their family and leave. He was actually interested in what they found bored, probably since he hardly knows anything about this word.

“You’re not going to go? You’re usually the first one out of the room, and that’s normally when you try to escape during class to skip.” Iruka-sensei says from the front of the class in the now empty room.

“I skipped class?” Tsuna gapes in shock, earning an amused chuckle from his teacher.

“Every day you come to school. You practically set the highest record for doing so, more than half the time successfully escaping Chuunins, sometimes even Jounins.”

“Oh…” Tsuna mumbles, idly wondering if he still has that skill. He gets up and meets the teacher at the door with a curious expression.

Iruka-sensei’s eyes narrow down at him. “You’re not planning on doing it again are you?” He asks suspiciously.

“What?” Tsuna’s eyes widen. “No! Of course not! I’m just shocked is all.”

Iruka-sensei’s eyebrows furrow in genuine concern this time, a small amount of softness bleeding through the teacher’s mask just for him. Tsuna is right about the man trying, or perhaps wrong. “Are you really okay, Naruto? Waking up without any memories of yourself or the world...I don’t know what it’s like, but I’m sure it must be a new experience, having to relearn something you already should’ve known for years.”

 _Finally_ someone asks him how he’s doing. The Sandaime Hokage hadn’t asked during their little tour, and the old man has yet to visit him again to check if he’s handling his situation well. Sure, he’s the leader of the village and has duties that need to be completed asap, Sawada Tsunayoshi understands, but still. Sandaime Hokage could have sent someone.

Then, there’s his relationship with the villagers and how they treat him like a pariah.

So of course he’s going to appreciate some concern where it’s due.

“I’m not,” he answers truthfully. His teacher deserves at least that much. “Everything feels alien. I had to keep repeating my name for the last week to memorize it and get used to it. It doesn’t help that I’m an a orphan, and I don’t know exactly what I’m supposed to do. I...I don’t even know what direction I’m going.”

“Naruto…” Iruka-sensei mutters sympathetically, sadness in his tone.

 _Not good._ That’s not what he was going for, but he also doesn’t know what to say. Denying the man’s pity and saying he’s fine would be a lie after he’d just confessed the opposite.

“Like I said,” Iruka-sensei places a hand on his shoulder and Tsuna can’t help but flinch, instinctively moving. _No touching._ He doesn’t want to be touched by strangers - shinobi, especially - he doesn’t know. It doesn’t help that he remembers the pain from being burned alive, betrayed by his trusty Flames. He’s not sure who he can trust anymore, let alone this whole world.

Iruka-sensei’s face pinches, regret and something undecipherable displayed on his face.

Tsuna decides this might be a good moment to ask, to salvage the situation in his favor. “Say. Do you know why the villagers hate me?” The question is simple, full of curiosity and hope for enlightenment from a ten year old orphan.

Immediately, all the concern towards him disappears, Iruka-sensei straightening up with wide eyes. He gapes, stumbling over his words and flailing his arms in some vague description meant to accompany an explanation.

Prespheration forms on the teacher’s face as the seconds tick by with no reply.

Huh. It’s mostly the older generation who seem to hate him - probably the only ones who know the reason why too. Tsuna doesn’t like this. He’s beginning to see the parallels in Sawada Tsunayoshi and Uzumaki Naruto’s lives, if slightly different.

He wants to know why he’s being shunned and scorned, but at least he’s confirmed he most likely won’t be given an answer. “Is it right of me to assume that there’s something about me I don’t know? Something no one can speak about even if I ask them?”

Iruka-sensei is turning a frightening shade of pale, and he knows pale doesn’t have a color.

So he's right. He wish he wasn’t.

Tsuna nods, bidding farewell to the older man and leaves, putting on his hood. At least he’s got answers, even if they’re unsatisfying and only adding to his pile of questions.

His first day at school wasn’t that bad. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a problem, as long as he’s exempted from participating in the physical training conducted every other day.

Then, out of nowhere his Hyper Intuition suddenly sounds, causing him to almost trip in the middle of the shopping district. Someone is watching him, somebody who has been randomly spying on him almost everyday. He groans, hating the intrusion and the fact that he can’t sense the bastard among those stocking him.

This has been randomly happening since he woke up, and it's getting really annoying.

Tsuna really wishes he can sleep and never wake up again, hopefully go back to living as Sawada Tsunayoshi. In that life he had people that was worth the suffering and endurance.

He rushes home, deciding that for the rest of the day, he really is going to sleep. He wants nothing more than to be done with this life, not wanting to relive his life as a Dame - as the Dead Last.

Maybe he could even try to wake from this.

**…**

When Tsuna wakes up to his shabby apartment the next day, he groans. It hadn’t worked. He misses Vongola so much. He’s now learned his lesson between living normally, to luxuriously, and then in the slums. He doesn’t consider himself a spoiled brat, but he misses the catering lifestyle he had as Vongola Decimo.

He cries out pitifully, asking Kami, “Why? Why me?” He doesn’t receive an answer. He didn’t expect one.

Less nervous than yesterday, Tsuna goes through his morning routine. He wants to leave early again so he could sit next Shikamaru and Chouji. Even if he didn’t really talk to them, he had been comfortable enough to sit still.

That, and he doesn’t want to stay in his apartment any longer than necessary.

As he walks to the Academy, he takes his time to study the unusual feeling surrounding him.

For a while now he’s been able to sense some kind of mystifying warmth. He doesn’t know what it is, too distracted yesterday from his nerves to ask about it. But, as he continues sensing for it, he realizes there’s a warmth emitting from every living thing, some warmer than others, and very few with a coldness that send shivers down his spine.

_Are they Dying Will Flames?_

He tries to reach for his, hating how they flicker away from his touch and ignore his call.

He’s unable to tell if the warmth are from Flames, or the so-called Chakra of this world, or if they’re one and the same. He has no idea which of the three are true, and won’t be able to find out because his Flames aren’t answering him and he has no clue about Chakra.

So he feels the warmth with confusion and irritation because there’s so much he doesn’t know and how he has information about him deliberately being withheld from him.

Tsuna is _so_ done. He’s prepared to turn around and not go to school today, his annoyance getting the better of-

_**Danger** PreditorRunRunRun_

He grips his head, mind roaring in a warning that does bring him to his knees this time. His vision blurs as he chances a glance in the direction his Hyper Intuitoin is blasting at and meets the eyes of a teenager who looks only a couple years older than him.

_RunRunRunDangerDangerDanger **Kill** -_

The teenage boy frowns at him, eyes accessing him with a calculating look, his glasses glinting ominously.

_**RunDangerKill!** _

Tsuna forces himself to straighten, tearing his eyes away from a possible enemy without giving anything away. He feels the blood draining from his face, a migraine spreading in his head as he continues towards the Academy, his vision swarming dangerously.

He makes it to the swing attached to the tree, dropping himself at the roots of the tree and leaning against the trunk, and lies down to curl into a ball.

And he sleeps, falling into the darkness that snuffs out all the warmth.

_Na..._

_To..._

_Naru..._

“Naruto!”

Abruptly Tsuna wakes, hands tightening into the stands of his hair in a painful hold. His heart races in his chest, thundering in his ears and throwing his mind into more chaos.

“You shouldn’t sleep out here.” It’s only Iruka-sensei. “If you were still feeling unwell, you shouldn’t have forced yourself to come to school.”

Tsuna. Just stares.

His Hyper Intuition didn’t warn him about this person’s presence. The other times before, it was because he either wasn’t paying attention, or something was interfering with it. However, neither were the case this time, and his Hyper Intuition hadn’t sounded. Either his Hyper Intuition is weak or weakening, or his teacher is just trustworthy.

Tsuna can’t rely on that last option, not when his own Flames turned on him. Although, his Hyper Intuition has yet to falsely alert him of something, the possibility is still there in the silence when it says nothing at all.

“I think you should go home,” Iruka-sensei’s voice snaps him out of his trance.

“I’m fine,” he automatically replies. He holds back a wince at the blatant lie. At the blank look he receives, he adds, “I’m just tired.”

His teacher's eyes narrow down at him, but Tsuna stubbornly meets his eyes.

Iruka-sensei sighs, crouching down so he’s closer to his face. “You know you can tell me if there’s anything wrong,” Iruka-sensei states firmly, expression completely serious. It sounds like there’s an extra something...a hidden meaning behind his words.

“...Okay.” Tsuna doesn’t promise the man anything, not when information is being kept from him that deals with him. “Uh. Iruka-sensei, why are you here early?” He decides to change the subject.

The older man blinks, the action dispelling the seriousness around him, and successfully diverting the man’s attention. “I always come before everyone else. You’re the one who is early. Before, you normally came almost half an hour into class.”

“Oh.” He didn’t know. There’s so, so much he doesn’t know.

“Iruka-sensei?”

“Hm?” The teacher retracts his hand that had shook him awake, attention solely on him.

“If you’re not busy, can you…? Can you explain a few things about Chakra before class starts?”

Iruka-sensei startles at his question. “I thought you were informed of what you forgot. Since you know how to read and write, and how you write even better now too.”

Tsuna mentally fumbles how he could explain this. His head is beginning to feel better, but his mind remains clouded about the whole situation with living an entirely different identity, in a whole new world. “I know only general knowledge a foreigner civilian might know, and I don’t...I don’t know anything about shinobi except that they go on missions and sometimes they can be dangerous, and the possibility of killing or being killed in the occupation is there. I don- I’m not sure I want to be a shinobi.”

It’s Iruka-sensei’s turn to stare at him, as if he’s seeing him for the first time. “You’re dream was to be Hokage. You can’t become it without becoming a shinobi first,” the older man says softly once he finds his voice, sounding sad and remorseful.

“I read a little about the village’s history. I’m not sure I want to take part in all of the bloodshed.” Tsuna absolutely doesn’t want to have a repeat with Flame Corruption. He’s not sick. He’s healthy and living as Uzumaki Naruto despite having Flames, even if they aren’t answering to him at the moment. So now given a choice of whether or not he wants to die from being burned from the inside-out or live normally? Yeah, it wasn’t hard to make a decision. “It said a shinobi was a defender, a soldier, and a tool of all things. I don’t want to be a tool used for things that might go against my morals. I don’t want to kill people nor hurt them.”

It’s the absolute truth too. He doesn’t want a repeat of his previous life. He has a chance to _live_ in this one. So he’s going to have that normal life - or as much normalcy one can have in a world run by shinobi - no matter what. He could always retrain his body so he wouldn’t be completely defenseless while learning how to fight in this world.

An idea suddenly comes to mind. _I failed the Academy already, right? So I just need to fail it a again this time and then switch to a civilian school. That sounds good._

“I’m still thinking about it,” half lying; half truthful. He already made his decision not to become a shinobi, but he’s still thinking about whether or not it’s possible. “I thought if I learned more about it, I could find some motivation to become a shinobi, ya know?”

Tsuna startles at the unexpected slang, wondering where it came from. He hadn’t really spoken to anyone since he woke up from a coma… _Could this be…? No. It can’t._

He can’t, frowning in stubborness - _denial_. “Huh. I don’t know where that came from.”

Iruka-sensei laughs, and Tsuna pouts at him for not being serious. “It seems a part of you remains the same, that little verbal tic of yours.”

Tsuna groans. “Why? Why me?”

“Come on,” Iruka-sensei nods towards the building, and stands. “We have a few minutes before school starts. I don’t mind teaching you about Chakra.”

That brings up Tsuna’s mood.

Three years of being sick, too long of being bound to a bed and unable to roam around and stretch far - Tsuna doesn’t want to ever be in that predicament ever again.

Whatever this is, real or not, he’s not going to spend it wasting it on something he doesn’t want to do.

He wants to learn more, travel the world and see what it offers. This is a chance, and he finally has a choice in the matter this time.

Of course, his Hyper Intuition decides to ruin his mood by alarming him of his new dream, completely shredding it into dust and firmly telling him ‘no’.

Tsuna pales, his instincts flaring in warning of something he knows he isn’t going to like.

Why? Why him?

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a Oneshot, and then next thing I know - BAM! There's more than one part to the story. I don't know where it came from, but this story is only meant to pass time for me. I decided to share it with you readers.
> 
> **It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better**


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